The Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers kick off a four-game series at Miller Park this Thursday night in a matchup between two National League teams in desperate need of some wins. This series opener is scheduled to get underway at 8:10 p.m. (ET), and it will be available on MLB Extra Innings.

The Phillies hosted Milwaukee for three games this past weekend and barely avoided a sweep with a 7-5 win on Sunday as -175 favorites. They have won the first two games of three-game set against Miami this week heading into Wednesday’s finale. The total has gone “over” in five of their last six games.

Milwaukee split the first two games of an interleague matchup against Oakland this week, with Game 3 scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. The Brewers are now 3-7 in their last 10 games and 1-5 in their last six games at home. The total has gone over in four of their last six games overall.

Phillies at Brewers Betting Storylines

It has been an up-and-down ride all season long for Philadelphia with an overall record of 29-30 as it continues to struggle to find any kind of real consistency from its pitching staff as well as its bats. The Phillies are ranked 12th in the National League in both pitching with a team ERA of 4.19 and scoring with an average of 3.66 runs a game. The one bright spot heading into this series is the fact they have been able to pound out 29 runs in their last five games.

Tyler Cloyd is expected to get the start for Philadelphia on Thursday night. The right-hander faced the Brewers last Saturday at home and recorded a quality start by holding them to two earned runs on eight hits in seven innings of work, but he still got tagged for the loss. Overall, he is 1-2 on the year with an ERA of 4.76.

The Brewers were expected to contend in the NL Central this season as third-favorites to win the division, but a 22-35 record in their first 57 games has them buried in last place and already 15.5 games of first. Milwaukee’s pitching has been the root cause of this unexpected collapse with the highest ERA in the NL at 4.59. The Brewers have not been able to close the gap with their bats as they are averaging 4.05 runs a game. Ryan Braun continues to lead the way with a team-high 35 RBI and nine home runs, but off-field issues involving PEDs continue to hang over his head and can only act as a further distraction to a team that already has enough issues on its plate.

Milwaukee will look to Wily Peralta as its starter in this game to once again shut the Phillies down after he held them to two earned runs on eight hits in last Saturday’s 4-3 win as a -106 road favorite. Overall, the right-hander is 4-6 in 12 previous starts with an ERA of 5.94 and a 1.68 WHIP. He allowed a total of 13 earned runs in his three starts before last Saturday’s game.

Phillies at Brewers Betting Odds and Trends

Philadelphia has been opened by BetOnline as a +108 road underdog for Thursday night with the Brewers listed as -118 home favorites. The total has been set at 9.5.

The Phillies are 6-13 in their last 19 games against the NL Central and 1-4 in the first game of their last five series. The total has gone over in four of their last five games on the road.

The Brewers are 3-10 in their last 13 games against a team with a losing record but 9-4 in their last 13 games against teams from the NL East. The total has gone over in four of their last five home games.

The road team in this matchup has won four of the last five meetings, and the total has stayed under in three of those games. Philadelphia has gone 9-3 in its last 12 games played in Milwaukee, and the total has stayed under in five of the last six meetings there.

Phillies at Brewers Picks and Betting Predictions

While the starters in this game would hardly constitute the makings of a pitcher’s duel, both teams only managed a total of seven runs when they squared off against one another last Saturday in Philadelphia. The high total line opens the door for a potential play on the “under”. However, if playing a side, stick with the hotter team right now, which happens to be the Phillies.

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